Gervonta Davis lost much of his invincibility cloak after his career waned due to an acrimonious split from Floyd Mayweather.
The WBA lightweight champion put his belt and perfect 30-0, 28 KOs record on the line in New York against WBA super featherweight ruler Lamont Roach. He made it out of the fight, still undefeated, but lost a massive slice of his reputation in the process.
A knee not counted as a knockdown, the most punches he’s ever taken in the ring, and a superb opponent all should have spelled an L for Davis at Barclays Center. However, the Baltimore native left New York with his world title but not the respect of much of the boxing community for the manner of his win.
Gervonta Davis takes a knee
Those detractors of Tank would have been jumping around their firesticks as the one-time Pound for Pound star saw his dignity taken in one incident. During the ninth, and despite a good start, Davis had let Roach fully back into the fight. Davis took a knee after being peppered with shots, which should have resulted in a knockdown. Referee Steve Willis, a respected official, didn’t score it. He got it badly wrong.
🚨 Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr ends in a majority draw!
🤯 In a bizarre moment, Tank took a knee in the 9th round but WASN’T scored a knockdown
👀 Thoughts on the controversial non-knockdown call and result? #TankRoach pic.twitter.com/MtHEd10otP
— BOXRAW (@BOXRAW) March 2, 2025
There were thoughts that maybe Roach wouldn’t need the KD as he was so on top towards the end. But at the final bell, the worst fears of many were realized. A majority decision draw, with the smallest of margins costing “The Reaper,” the victory transpired. As it turned out, the valid knockdown was the decider.
Roach moves to 25-1-2, 10 KOs after yet another boxing injustice, as Al Haymon contemplates the fallout from his number one guy being gifted a decision to keep his title. It’s never a good look for anyone, but Davis will never live this down after leaving Mayweather Promotions and looking good in so many bouts prior.
Floyd Mayweather split
The main PBC Pay-Per-View event on Prime Video in Brooklyn had no remnants from the Floyd Mayweather era, as neither the ‘Money’ man nor Leonard Ellerbe was present on Saturday night.
Attempting to explain why he should have lost the fight, Davis reeled off a list longer than Deontay Wilder’s when the ‘Bronze Bomber’ got knocked out by Tyson Fury.
“I just got my hair done two days ago, and she put grease in my s***. So, the grease, when you sweat, it was coming into my face,” said Davis. “I think I pulled it out in the last three rounds for sure. I was catching him with some clean shots.
“But I feel I was breaking him down as the rounds were going on, but he kept coming so I didn’t want to make mistakes, and I kept it cautious.”
He definitely did keep it cautious as he took a knee and should have also taken a 10-8 on the scorecards. Being handed that kind of gift on your own show will never sit well with fans. Many who sided with Mayweather when Davis left the stable can now wonder why it went so sour.
Daughter
Pre-fight, Davis tried to explain the parting of ways, blaming Mayweather’s daughter for hitting him up on social media.
“They tried to say I was messing with his daughter. She kept hitting me on Snapchat,” Davis told The Jay Hill Podcast. “They sent it to Floyd, and he bugged out. I was in a lose-lose situation. He was like, you’ve got to fight this fighter, which is Jose Pedraza. If you don’t fight him, you’re not fighting and sitting on the shelf. I had to fight him. In the middle of all that, I got evicted and had to sell my jewelry.”
Asked if Mayweather did it purposefully, he responded, “Yes, for sure.”
Davis vs. Roach summary
Premier Boxing Champions released its view on the fight’s outcome and admitted Gervonta Davis had to deal with more than he had ever done before.
In a chippy, trash-talking affair between two longtime friends, 30-year-old southpaw Tank Davis got out to an early lead on the judges’ scorecards after six and then survived a furious rally from 29-year-old Roach in the second half of the tense battle.
Davis was never able to land any of his customary fight-changing bombs against his former amateur rival and found himself taking more punches than ever before in his career. The determined Roach found repeated success, especially with the counter right hand.
In a hotly contested fight, the combatants were separated by three or fewer landed punches in nine of the twelve rounds, even though Roach threw 121 more punches than Davis. Davis landed six more power punches than Roach, while Roach landed 15 more jabs than Davis.
There was a controversial moment in round nine when Davis ate a jab and then voluntarily took a knee before going to his corner to have grease wiped from his eye. Had that voluntary knee been ruled a knockdown, two of the judges’ scorecards would have swung Roach’s way.
Majority Draw
Roach out-threw and slightly out-landed Davis and closed the fight strong, out-landing Davis 16-9 in the final stanza. One judge scored the fight 115-113 for Davis, while the other two judges turned in identical 114-114 scorecards. Davis retained his WBA lightweight title.
After the compelling fight, both combatants expressed a desire for a rematch.
However, in his post-fight interview in front of the media, Gervonta Davis denied a rematch would happen in 2025. He knows the result was a world away from what Davis stated pre-fight.
“He better not bring his family. That’s what I’ve been saying. He might be my people, but we gotta get it on. I don’t care who he comes with. None of them can stop this,” he promised.
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Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010.